Former Cache Valley immigrant advocate sent to prison

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The former head of a Cache County immigrant community center was sentenced Monday to prison for up to life on sex abuse charges, his second conviction for sex crimes.

Leovigildo "Leo" Bravo, 63, had pleaded guilty in March to one count each of rape, object rape and forcible sodomy, all first-degree felonies punishable by five years to life behind bars.

On Monday, 1st District Judge Clint Judkins ordered two of the terms to run consecutively, meaning Bravo will spend a minimum of 10 years in prison, The Herald Journal reported.

According to court records, the victim came forward in December and told police she had been raped over and over during a five-month period in 2001, beginning when she was 17 years old. She said she didn't report the rape until late last year, when she learned Bravo had been released from jail following a prior conviction.

In April 2011, Bravo was sentenced to one year in the Cache County jail on reduced charges of attempted sexual abuse for using his position of trust to take advantage of "a vulnerable woman who came to him for help," according to prosecutors.

ARTICLE PHOTO GALLERY

Bravo was granted an early release in October 2011 and ordered to seek treatment, according to court records.

That same month, Logan police were contacted by an out-of-state police agency and told about a second victim.

Bravo was arrested again in December and charged with five counts each of rape, object rape and forcible sodomy. Twelve of the counts were dismissed as part of a plea deal

For more than 30 years, Bravo served as an advocate for the immigrant community and was the director of the Multicultural Center of Cache Valley.

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account. See more about comments here.